Universal credit childcare.

[mum11123]

Currently me and my partner get about £400/500 universal credit per month.

He works full time and me part time- I'm looking to increase my hours (which we've put off doing due to childcare costs), but I've seen universal credit will pay 85% of the costs- is this correct?

Even if we are both working? DP 40 hours a week and me 25 hours? Or will we earn too much and need to pay?

They pay 85% of childcare costs up to a certain amount - I'm sorry I can't remember the limit. Then that is paid as another element of your UC on top of the elements you already get. However all those elements are subject to deductions due to earnings so it would really depend how much your earnings are going to increase by.

Martin Lewis says it's up to a family income of £40 000 but I don't know if it's on a sliding scale.

They will pay up to £646
it gets added as an extra element.

it’s not really off hours(except both parents have to work at least 16 hours to get it) but it’s best to do a benefits calculator to work it out.

calculate what your income would be increasing your hours ( enter it into a salary calculator to get your net wage)
and use those figures

I'm employed via an agency and for the past 2 months they have had no work for me, so I'm not getting paid for my annual leaves and am claiming universal credit as well. I was wondering if I can get my childcare costs claimed back if in a month I get zero hours (my salary varies month to month, but the nurseries charge per term).

Amounts payable and some detail about how to apply are on the .gov website:

https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/universal-credit

Simplest way to get an idea of whether you'd qualify is to use an online checker such as Turn2Us or Entitled To but if you're already getting UC based on kids, rent etc then I'd expect you to get Childcare as well.

Hiya
I was wondering if anyone had heard of a daily £52 cap on childcare costs claimed through Universal Credit? The staff at a job centre claim that there is a national £52 maximum daily rate that they will pay regardless of how many days your child is in childcare. Can't find any information about this anywhere online, but when I challenged them they shut me down saying its not negotiable and thats just the way it is. Any advice would be appreciated.

Use a benefit calculator and hypothetically put in your salary as increased and put in an estimate on how much the childcare would be if this were the case. You’ll get a general idea how much you would get

The most you can get back each month is:

• £950.92 for one child
• £1,630.15 for 2 or more children

@Deanna89 I think the "cap" they're referring to is when you claim upfront Childcare Costs via the Flexible Support Fund. There is a daily limit and a weekly limit on what can be awarded, and there isn't discretion to deviate outside these limits.

The Childcare Cost Element within the UC Award is subject to the £950.92 / £1630.15 limits for 1 child / 2 or more children.

(Additionally now, if you are awarded upfront Childcare Costs via the Flexible Support Fund you can also claim back 85% of these costs - so effectively get 185% of your initial Childcare Costs back).

Thanks for your reply. I did get clarification that the £52 daily cap is purely in regards to the flexible support fund.

Oh wow, how does that work?

If you're awarded upfront Childcare Costs via the Flexible Support Fund (FSF), after it has been approved and paid (DWP will pay direct to Childcare Provider) you go onto your UC Account and report the Childcare Costs paid as normal (as if "you" paid them). You should answer Yes to the question about these being paid through FSF, and then these are verified so you get the 85% back across the Assessment Periods in which the Childcare is used.

So DWP pay via FSF for 100% of upfront Childcare Costs and you "claim back" these in the normal way so the 85% is also paid so you can then fund the next lot.

Skip to the Flexible Support Fund bit. These are the changes that came in around 26th August (from memory).

www.gov.uk/guidance/universal-credit-childcare-costs?_ga=2.225063258.1337230262.1695846657-387129250.1695846655#get-help-with-the-upfront-cost-of-childcare

Before that, there was upfront through FSF and then claiming back as normal. Now for that initial month it's both.